A) What differences do you find between high school and your classes at college? Were you expecting any of these differences? Which ones caught you off guard?
High School and college are somewhat different in many aspects. I think the best thing in college is that you can manage your time however you need to and want to, you do not have to stay 8 hours in school and follow all the weird rules and codes the high schools have, we definitely have more freedom in college than in high school, this anyways can be bad for some people that have to work or have a family or life far away from campus. Another change, not so positive is that you have to pay for classes, we all wish it was still free like high school was; but this is a way of showing that we have grown and now we are responsible for our future and our lives.
For me the transition of high school to college was positive, it was one more change in my life, since I am kind of use to move around a lot, I got use to meet different kind of people, be the new girl, and adjust to different places and schools. While I was doing my high school career I had to move at least six times, to a different country, different states and different high schools in the same area, so getting to college was a kind of refresh and start over for me. I know this time I am going to stay in this college for a while because now I am an independent woman and I make my own decisions now.
Even though I always was in a constant change and experience different things, one of the most choking things was when I was looking for a parking spot the first day of college. Every morning I wake up with enough time to eat something, take a shower, get ready and drive wherever I have to go, but I was not counting on a search of ten to fifteen minutes for a parking spot and then had to walk a long distance to get to the classroom. It was kind of ridiculous and off course I was late to class.
One more thing I was not expecting was the cost of the books. As a high school student the most you have to buy would be a pen or an index card or a poster board for a project but that does not go over 10 dollars. When I went to the college library to find out the cost of my books I was very surprised, I thought they were way too expensive but they are all necessary for each of my classes and if I want good grades I have to buy them somehow. In that aspect my budget was not ready at all and I found out myself short of money. In that moment I thought how much responsibilities I have now and ways to get more money, I am going to have to work more hours and try to work it out with my class schedule; I am also going to apply for financial aid and see if I get any money that way.
B).If you could warn an upcoming freshman about something to better prepare them for their first week, what would it be and why?
If I could warn an upcoming freshman about something to be better prepare it would be the time managing according to finding a parking space specially in the morning and in the beginning of the semester like the first 2 or 3 weeks. It is chaos to find an spot, sometimes it can be luck but most of the time you have to wake up a little earlier than usual so you can find something good and get to class on time. Another major thing is lines, every freshman has to get their ID card and parking sticker and the line can be really long and boring. It is better to get it the first two weeks because after that the room that you have to go to is going to be open only a few hours per week.
Something I find hard to manage sometimes is wanting to go to class, here in college you do not have a teacher calling to your house and telling your mommy you are not attending to class, here pretty much you do what you want to do, and if you choose not to show up to class no one is going to say anything, they are just going to fail you and you will lose your money and your time. Also try to buy the books and all the material you need the first week of school, because the teachers are going to give your homework from it the first day, here in college we do not waste time since it is only one semester and a lot of material, we do not have class everyday of the week like in high school and is only few hours of class. You are responsible now for getting all the materials including the book that you are going to need for each class.
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